20 years of hard work pays off as family now owns Habitat for Humanity home

Monday

Feb 11, 2008 at 1:42 AMFeb 11, 2008 at 10:11 AM

Pedro Suchil and his wife, Tammy, recently paid off their house after 20 years with the Habitat for Humanity program.

By ASHLEI N. STEVENS ashlei.stevens@shj.com

Pedro Suchil has worked hard over the years to put a roof over his family's head - literally.

Twenty years ago, Suchil physically helped build his family's Celestial Street home, the second home ever built by Habitat for Humanity of Spartanburg.

Today, Suchil and his wife, Tammy, are still in their quaint three-bedroom home with a promising future. They're one of the first families to have their home paid for in full.

"I can't believe it," said Pedro, 48. "It's really exciting for us. It's a wonderful feeling to know you have a home you own."

The "mortgage burning" of sorts is a celebration for families like the Suchils, who have benefited from the Habitat for Humanity program, said Bob Breitweiser, board chairman of the local program.

"They've been good partners, good neighbors, and they've worked hard to earn their home," Breitweiser said of the Suchils. "It's been good to have them in our family."

Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit ministry that provides quality, affordable housing to families. The international program began in 1977 and has since built more than 200,000 homes in 3,000 communities.

The Spartanburg affiliate was founded in 1987 by members of local churches concerned about substandard living conditions in the area. The 80th Habitat House in Spartanburg is being built. And the organization is constantly seeking land, volunteers, and financial resources, said Spartanburg's executive director Dave Ellis.

From dream to reality

The Suchils have had their share of substandard living. Pedro, a native of Mexico, worked for nearly 20 years in peach and tobacco fields across the Carolinas. After meeting Tammy in Spartanburg, the two married and moved from place to place.

They rented homes that inattentive landlords would not maintain. They often went without heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. Some of their dwellings, they said, were infested with rodents.

They often struggled finding quality living conditions because Pedro wasn't a U.S. citizen then and he had no credit.

"You can't buy a mobile home with no credit," Pedro said.

Even buying a simple item - like a $600 television - cost them $2,000 because of high interest rates.

But buying a home through Habitat has saved money over the past two decades for this family and dozens of others.

"Our loans are interest-free, so that saves almost as much money as the cost of the home," said Ellis.

In the late 1980s, Pedro was sitting at the home of a former co-worker and friend.

"I thought, I wish I could buy a home, and he told me about Habitat for Humanity," he said.

Suchil was linked up with organizers, who were just about to begin the first project in the county on Celestial Street. A few months later, the Suchil's three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom home was completed.

While they paid $300 or more to rent homes in the past, the Suchils said the rent averaged $150 a month for their current home and never was above $212 a month - including taxes and insurance. Another benefit is that the mortgage payment goes into an account that helps to fund future Habitat Homes, so the families are helping others as well as themselves.

The Suchils, and Habitat officials, want to dispel any myths that Habitat homes are free. They are not.

"The family works and pays the mortgage," said Breitweiser. "This is their home that they worked hard to have."

Families must qualify to receive a home by meeting certain criteria, including holding a steady job and meeting certain income levels. Upon approval, the family has to work for 400 hours, which means they physically help build other Habitat homes - and sometimes their own.

Pedro, who works with Kohler Co., said he remembers putting the roof on his family's house. Most of the homes on his street are Habitat homes, and Ellis said that's the goal.

"We try to get enough property to create a nice neighborhood for a family," Ellis said, noting that 30 to 40 Habitat Homes in Una helped change the look of that community. "We try to create nice, safe neighborhoods."

The family says they would probably still be renting a house or a mobile home if they did not buy a home through Habitat. But fortunately, all of their children - ages 22, 20, 17 and 9 - have been raised in a clean, safe home that belongs to them.

"I've got a house now and nobody's going to take it away," said Tammy, 42, sitting on a comfy leather sofa in a room with family photos filling the walls.

Now that they're mortgage free, the Suchils plan to save up to send their two youngest children to college. Cristina is a high school senior, while 9-year-old Benjamin is a second-grader.

"It doesn't feel like it's been 20 years," said Pedro. "I used to sit in other houses and wish I owned my own. We're so blessed and I'm grateful."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.